Pages 701-705
Transverse load tensile tests were carried out to evaluate mechanical properties and investigate the failure behavior of the high-strength fabric yarns Zylon, Kevlar, and Spectra. Tests with blunt loaders produced stress-strain curves that were similar to uniaxial tensile test results. However, loaders with sharpened contact edges reduced the properties drastically. The Zylon yarn showed the highest modulus, tensile strength, and failure strain in all tests. The trends in the results for the three yarns were in accord with previous results generated under fragment impact load conditions, suggesting that simpler quasistatic tests can be used to assist the design of ballistic barriers.
